No policy in place, hawkers continue to encroach footpaths, roads in Mumbai

Long pending policy

After the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulations of Street Vending) Act got passed in 2014, the BMC had received 99,435 applications from vendors for allotment of hawking pitches.

The proposed hawking pitches would be designated space of one square meter, where the hawkers would carry out their business. The regulation also ordered formation of a Town Vending Committee (TVC) that would give input and suggestion at the local level. This committee will also work towards allocating dedicated pitches and shopping zones for hawkers by freeing up encroached public spaces.

Therefore, collectively to curb the issue of hawker menace in Mumbai, the civic administration had mooted the implementation of a hawkers’ policy that will also work towards legalising vendors and hawkers, thus making it easier for the administration to identify illegal hawkers and launch a crackdown on them.
However, nearly a decade later the policy is yet to see the light of the day.

“The draft of this policy was formulated in 2020, however due to the pandemic outbreak its implementation couldn’t happen. The body of elected representatives got dissolved in 2022 and since four years now we don’t have an elected body. Therefore, once the corporators come back to power then only a policy could be chalked since this will require serious consultation among public and private stakeholders,” said a civic official.

By issuing a 2024 ruling, the Bombay High Court had also directed the civic authorities to start preparing the formulation of the TVC that would determine the policy. However, officials said that it could be implemented only after the body of representatives came into place.

What does corporator propose

Meanwhile, speaking to The Indian Express, candidates who will be contesting the elections on January 15, said that the formulation and drafting of a hawkers’ policy is one of the key objectives for them once they are elected to their offices.

Sandeep Patel, BJP candidate who would be contesting the election for the second time, said that the hawker’s policy is a long term plan that is going to change the entire walkability situation in Mumbai.

“A primary area that I want to focus on once I am back in the office is formulating a uniform hawkers’ policy to ensure the roads are free for pedestrians to walk. In the next two years my target is to make two of the most encroached areas in Mumbai – Siddharth Nagar as well as Gajanan Marg – entirely hawker-free,” Patel said.

In March last year, the BMC had also initiated a drive to remove hawkers from public spaces as part of its “pedestrian first” policy. However, the hawkers came back to the same places from where they were removed, a few weeks later.

Last year, in November, as many as 67 illegal hawkers were removed from Colaba. The move was catapulted by former corporator Makarand Narwekar who had raised complaints on this issue with the civic administration. Narwekar said that the only permanent method to solve this issue is to bring a proper hawking policy.

“More than 50% of the stalls at Colaba causeway, which were removed, were illegal and the rampant encroachments have made the footpaths completely non-walkable and unsafe for pedestrians. Therefore only a proper policy can bring a permanent end to this issue,” Narwekar said.